Ken Stabler, a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback who led the Oakland Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XI, died Wednesday at age 69. After conflicting reports of his death, his family posted an announcement on his Facebook page on Thursday: “We announce with great sadness that our father, Ken Stabler, …

John Madden said in a statement, “I was head coach of the Raiders the entire time Kenny was there and he led us to a whole bunch of victories, including one in Super Bowl XI. I’ve often said, ‘If I had one drive to win a game to this day and I had a quarterback to pick, I would pick Kenny. Snake was a lot cooler than I was. He was a perfect quarterback and a perfect Raider. When you think about the Raiders, you think about Ken Stabler. Kenny loved life. It is a sad day for all Raiders.”

Stabler recently was working on a book with The Sports Xchange’s Tom LaMarre, a former Raiders beat writer. About three weeks ago, Stabler told LaMarre he had cancer but he was doing fine and wanted to complete the book